Investigative journalist Mark Dowie alleges that Ford Motor Company deliberately put an unsafe carthe Pintoon the road, causing hundreds of people to suffer burn deaths and horrible disfigurement. James Neal, chief attorney for Ford Motor Company during the Pinto litigation, argues that there is no proof of criminal intent or negligence on the part of Ford.'

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL: Outline the deontological duties you have to both your fellow group members as well as to your beneficiary organization. Additionally, comment on the way(s) in which your group project is connected to utilitarian ideals.

15 January

The Corporation as Moral Institution

Students enrolled in MGT 482 may access a VIDEO STREAMING LECTURE for this class session by logging into Blackboard and clicking on the 'Video Streaming' menu bar, then on 'Deontology/Utilitarianism'

YES: Robert D. Hay and Edmund R. Gray, from "Introduction to Social Responsibility," in David Keller, man. ed., Ethics and Values (Pearson Custom Publishing, 2002)
NO: Milton Friedman, from "The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits," in Thomas Donaldson and Patricia H. Werhane, eds., Ethical Issues in Business, 4th ed. (Prentice Hall, 1993)

Business leaders now recognize, Hay and Gray argue, that in the long run, business will only be successful if it is directed to the needs of the societyand if it chooses to ignore that advice, government regulation is likely to fill the gap between business operations and the welfare of the people the government is sworn to protect. Friedman argues that businesses have neither the right nor the ability to fool around with “social responsibility;” they serve employees and customers best when they do their work with maximum efficiency.

YES: Adam Smith, from An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1869)
NO: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, from The Communist Manifesto (1848)

If we will but leave self-interested people to seek their own advantage, Smith argues, the result, unintended by any one of them, will be the greater advantage of all. No government interference is necessary to protect the general welfare. Marx disagrees; leave people to their own self-interested devices, he replies, and those who by luck and inheritance own the means of production will rapidly reduce everyone else tovirtual slavery. The few may be fabulously happy, but all others will live in misery.

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL: Describe the way(s) in which the concept of social contract theory relates to either your interactions within your group or the organization(s) affiliated with your social change project or case analysis.

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL: Outline the 'deliverables' you will be including within the 'scope of service' contract due next week. If taking the case option, describe the 'moral dilemma' which will be the springboard for your case analysis, and relate this 'moral dilemma' to at least two of the ethical frameworks covered in this course.

31 January

EXAM #1 DEBRIEFING

EACH GROUP IS TO PROVIDE A FIVE TO TEN MINUTE UPDATE OF THEIR SOCIAL CHANGE PROJECT.
Refer to discussion questions below for areas to be addressed.

Students enrolled in MGT 482 may access a VIDEO STREAMING LECTURE for this class session by logging into Blackboard and clicking on the 'Video Streaming' menu bar, then on 'Justice/Caring/Libertarianism/Virtue/Land Ethic'

YES: Sam Walton with John Huey, from Made in America (Doubleday, 1992)
NO: George Miller, from "Everyday Low Wages," http://edworkforce.house.gov (February 16, 2004)

Wal-Mart has become a focus of controversy, but Sam Walton was absolutely convinced that he and his associates had set up a model company, totally dedicated to giving consumers what they want, which is what retail sales are all about, while treating their employees with the utmost respect. George Miller, congressman from California, is on the House Education and Workforce Committee, from the records of which this piece is taken. In his view, Wal-Mart abuses workers, impoverishes the American business scene, and ultimately places the burden of its low wages and benefits on the taxpayers.

The full text of DEADLY DECEPTION can be found by clicking here.
For current news regarding the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, visit the Hanford Watch website.
To better understand the concept of advocacy video, see the work of the Benton Foundation.

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL: Provide a brief overview of the dilemma your group addressed as part of your discussion of Deadly Deception. What recommendation did your group develop to resolve this dilemma, and how does this recommendation conform with the model of ethical decision-making?

Ethicist Manuel Velasquez argues that since any business that tried to conform to moral rules in the absence of enforcement would cease to be competitive, moral strictures cannot be binding on such companies. John E. Fleming asserts that multinational corporations tend to deal with long-term customers and suppliers in the goldfish bowl of international media and must therefore adhere to moral standards or lose business.

John Shanahan, vice president of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution in Arlington, Virginia, argues that many government environmental policies are unreasonable and infringe on basic economic freedoms. Environmental scientists Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H. Ehrlich argue that many objections to environmental protections are self-serving and based in bad or misused science.

YES: Josef Wieland, from "The Ethics of Governance," Business Ethics Quarterly (January 2001)
NO: Ian Maitland, from "Distributive Justice in Firms: Do the Rules of Corporate Governance Matter?" Business Ethics Quarterly (January 2001)

Josef Wieland, director of the German Business Ethics Network’s Centre for Business Ethics, argues that the performative nature of communications like Codes of Ethics in a corporation gives moral impetus to the corporation that issues such a code. It announces its willingness to be held accountable to the code as to a promise. Ian Maitland, Professor of Business, Government and Society at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, thinks that such moral structuring has no effect at all on the corporation’s moral performance (for instance, in distributive justice), but if taken too seriously, might impair the efficiency of the corporation and therefore its ability to create wealth for all its stakeholders.